Means for extinguishing fire in oil-tanks



(No Model.)

(If-BARNES; MEANS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE IN OIL TANKS. No. 244,422. Patented July 19,1881.

5o cover-guides H are made, preferably, of metal ing or completely extinguished, and the con- CHARLES BARNES, OF

MEANS FOR EXTINGUISH SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PATENT OFFICE.

DAYTON, KENTUCKY.

me FIRE My OIL-TANKS.

Patent No. 244,422, dated J'ulyv 19, 1881.

Application filed March 15, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES BARNES, of the city of Dayton, county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means to Extinguish Fires in Stills and'Oil-Tanks, and to discharge and save thecontents of still-vessels and tanks in case of fire, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an automatic apparatus by which fires in stills, oil-tanks, &c., may be prevented from spreadtents of the vessel automatically discharged and conveyed away from the fire, thus saved, and dangerous explosions prevented.

The invention will be first fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

The accompanying drawings represent in vertical section, in Figure 1, a portion of a buildin g in which oil or spirit tanks are shown provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail view.

A A are tanks mounted above the floor upon blocks, in the usual manner. The tank A is shown in broken section to expose the perforated metal diaphragm a and the em ptyin gvalve D. The valve D is jointed upon a lever, 0,. which has its fulcrumin a post, B, which is secured to the bottom of the tank. The free end of the lever-bar passes through a guideyoke, E, and is provided with a float, F,which holds the valve above its. seat so long as any oil or other liquid remains in the tank. The diaphragm a, which is of light perforated metal or gauze-wire, is to prevent the flame from following the oil or spirit as it is being discharged, in case the cover Gr is not used or the gases generated by the heat should preventit from closing tightly, to extinguish the flame. The covers G are fitted to slide upon guides H, which are secured at their upper ends to the building and have their lower ends supported by cross-braces within the vessels. The brace is represented by dotted lines in tank A. The covers are sustained above their respective tanks by wire I, which passes over pulleys J and is united by fusible couplings K. The

tubin g, an d have transverse perforations above the line of the closed cover, with the lower end of the tube left open. This provision allows the escape ofthe gases from the closed tank and furnishes a vent to facilitate the flow of the liquid.

A sectional detail view on an enlarged scale of part of the perforated pipe and cover is shown in the drawings.

L is the discharge-pipe, which passes through the floor of the building and connects with a tank, M, in the cellar or basement. Within the pipe L is a valve or cook, N, which has an actuating-lever, O. A wire, P, passes from the lever back of a pulley secured to the side of the tank and has its opposite end secured to th ecover G. In this position it keeps the valve 'N closed until the fusible connections K are fused by heat.

' The fusible connections I design to use are the same patented to me in patent No. 233,393, October 9, 1880, and the discharge-valve may be the same as the one shown in the same patent, or of any approved construction.

The wire 1? may, instead of being secured to the cover, be connected to the building, and a single jointed wire may be employed to hold several of the valves or valves and covers together, so that if parted at any point of its length all the valves will be simultaneously opened and allthe covers simultaneously closed upon the tanks, (these variations are represented in the drawings by dotted'lines,) or each valve and each cover may have an independent sustaining-wire, as may be most desirable in each particular case.

It is believed to be the best plan to have all the covers of all adjoining tanks released simultaneously in case of a fire near any of them to prevent the flame spreading from one to the other, and to have the discharge-valves each held closed by an independent wire; but, of course, the judgment of the constructor will readily determine which plan is the best to meet the conditions of the particular case.

. While I have shown the reservoir-tank M in the basement or cellar of the same building with the oil or spirit tanks, it may be placed at any distance outside of the building, or may be an underground cistern.

It is beneficial to employ the valve in the bottom of the tank to close the discharge-pipe IOO after the contents of the tank are conveyed to the reservoir; but it is not essential to the successful operation of the device, as flame will not follow down a pipe and cannot reach to the discharge-pipe when the diaphragm a near the top of the tank is used. Indeed, the diaphragmvalve in the tank, and the covers may be omitted and still good results be attained by the use of the valve N and its fusibly-jointed connection alone.

It is evidentthat instead of the fusibly-jointed wire to sustain the cover or to hold the dischargevalve closed, the cover could be secured in its elevated position by a fusible solder-joint between the cover and guide-rod H, and the weighted valve or its lever could be soldered in the closed position to be released by heat, the main feature of the invention being to retain the cover in its elevated position and to lock the valvein its closed position until automatically released by the action of heat upon the fusible lock or retainin gjoint.

The ordinary spring-faucet may be adapted to serve as my discharge-valve by simply reversing the spring, so that its strain will open the cock, which would be held in its closed position by fusible solder.

I claim- 1. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a tank for the storage of an in flammable liquid, a discharge-pipe leading therefrom to a reservoir, a normally-closed valve controlling said discharge-pipe, automatic means for opening the valve, and a fusible joint for suspending the action of the valveopeniug means.

2. The combination, as hcreinbefore set forth, of the tank for the storage of an inflammable liquid, a discharge-pipe leading therefrom to a reservoir, 21 valve located within said pipe and havinga weighted actuating-lever, and a fusibly-jointed wire to hold said valve in its closed position until released by heat.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbet'ore set forth, of the tank, a discharge-pipe, having a valve therein which is held in its closed position byfusible solder, with the valve B located within said tank and actuated by a float, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of a tank, a verticallysliding cover, the perforated guide and ventpipe, and a fusibly-jointed coversustaining wire or device, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, substantially as specified, of tank A, the suspended cover G, wire I, and a fusible joint, as K, arranged to operate as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, substantially as before set forth, of a tank for the storage of an inflammable liquid, a perforated screen or diaphragm secured therein, a discharge-pipe leading from the tank to a reservoir, a normally-closed valve controlling said discharge-pipe, automatic means for opening the valve, and a fusible joint for suspending the action of the valveopening means.

7. The combination, substantially as specilied, of a spirit or oil tank, a discharge-pipe leading therefrom, a valve to control the passage in said discharge-pipe and locked in its closed position by fusible solder, with a reservoir, as M, to receive the contents of said tank when the fusibly-lockcd valve is released by heat in case of fire.

CHAS. BARNES.

Witnesses:

ALFRED B. BENEDICT, THOMAS SCANLAN. 

